A Breath of Rain
by maze.reflected
Summary: What if there was more to their bond than meets the eye? And this time Yoshioka Futaba and Mabuchi Kou meet once again in high school as ex-lovers. Insanity ensues.


**Fanfic of Ao Haru Ride. If you're a reader from my KHR fanfic, you'll see a major difference: It has more mistakes. Sadly, there's no proof-reader, because I'm just too embarrassed to send a romantic story to my friend. LOL, no, that wasn't funny. **

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><p>Chapter 1: Sunny Days, Many Strays<p>

She saw nothing but _him_, his lips hesitant. The point of his nose caressed her cheek and his eyes were half closed. Arms encircled her in a light embrace, so softly that she wanted more. _Ah, how warm,_ she thought. He was wearing a yellow knitted sweater with an open collar and his cute neck enticed her to nuzzle him closely. At last, he gave her a shy kiss. Their lips brushed momentarily. Stray lights appeared above the darkness and painted their surroundings in snowy white. She shielded her face in his chest, savoring his fresh fragrance. _If only time could stop here._

"Futaba," his voice came suddenly, "_sayonara_." As everything grew vibrant, so did his voice. Like a broken record, his words played over and over.

Then, he let her go. _No, no, no._ Her hands flew to reach his. Her mouth went dry, her eyes teary, and her legs weak. Time seemed to cease and they both came to a stop. Drowning deep into the sunny light, she didn't want to rise back to the surface.

"Love sucks," she whispered lazily as her eyes fluttered open. Her legs slid down sluggishly to the warm floor and reached down her good old slippers. With an idle hop, she was off the bed and strolled her way to the dim lit bathroom. With one glance at the mirror she frowned at the dark circles under her eyes. Today was their "anniversary". _Three years since then_, she thought bitterly. there was an unusual silence. Her parents must have left early.

It has been a while since she thought of him. Over the years, she has managed to start anew, but just once in a while; her mind would drift back to those days.

She tiptoed quietly down the stairs.

When he uttered weakly his last goodbye, things didn't seem sudden. She has accepted it with a sad smile, mimicking his facial expression. Both knew it was the least they could do for one another.

A week later, she broke down. Ah, how she has wished she could go back to those days.

_Not anymore. _

She grabbed her bag at the hallway and reached the front door.

Futaba remembered, when she got back on her feet, she promised herself not to fall back. Her family was worried sick over her when she always came out of her room with puffy eyes each morning.

She knew that as a couple a relationship was likely a never ending roller-coaster ride. But she reached down on her ride and stopped there after the day he left. The excuse of a failed long distant relationship was just the tip of the iceberg. There were other reasons but she didn't want to dive into the cold water.

_Not anymore_

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><p>"Hey, you listening?" She snapped back her attention and looked at her impatient friend. "Sorry," she apologized sheepishly. Her classmate seemed satisfied and went on with her talking.<p>

"I planned a Goukon with some students of Sekai High! Four of them will be coming," she continued, "all looking very handsome," hey eyes went dreamy, together with Chie-chan. "You should come."

"Asumi," she gave her thrilled classmate a questioning look as she sat down carelessly on her seat, "why give all the trouble? We can ask the boys of our school instead," Futaba preferred spending a night with familiar looking people than some strangers. "Plus, I'm not into those kind of things."

"Please," she started, her voice lacing with disappointment, and continued before Futaba could try to add another excuse, "Sekai High is an all-boys school," she emphasized, "most of them are interested to find a girlfriend. I wouldn't have asked them if our guys at school weren't already head over heels for _Yuuri_," her last word dripped with venom.

_You don't need to be that mean..._ Futaba talked to the said girl yesterday and she made her realize how similar they used to be. There was no denying that Yuuri was a cute girl. Not to mention, she even gave her a bunny-strap. Of course, Futaba kept her mouth shut.

"We need you," Chie-chan pleaded, "since boys won't go for you. We get to have more chance! I don't think you're interested into any boys, so do it as a favor..." The slip that no-one-liked-her-romantically hit hard on Futaba. But she laughed it off. It was her who brought it on to herself the day she decided to change.

The reason was easy. In her previous school, she started to attract attention after her breakup, particularly from the boys. Because she was no longer seeing anyone, boys would joke about giving a try to ask her out. They would often whisper to each other how calm and graceful she was, unlike the other girls, and glanced at her in the corridor.

_"Can't they see? Futaba just want to replace her ex." _

She promptly discarded the last line of thought. _He_ was quite popular too. No one expected that the relationship came to an end, rumors flew around that she cheated on him, not the other way around. He was too much of an angel. Some irate girls would always glare at her. Yes, they were young and immature, but she had enough with all those rumours and unnecessary attention. She wanted a fresh start. Now, boys would consider her no further than a tomboyish friend and girls have already forgotten about her.

She looked at Chie-chan and Asumi and gave a begrudging nod.

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><p>Once again, she was left alone. Her two friends decided to go shopping before the goukon but Futaba had to stay at school because of class duties. <em>It's okay, I don't need to shop.<em>

"Ah-" her unfinished pastry dropped down from her busy arms as she bumped into someone's shoulder. A hand reached in midair and caught the bread. "Thanks," she mumbled out. She awkwardly stared the ground, awaiting him to give it back. Strangely enough, he didn't.

"I never thought my ex-girlfriend would eat more than me," he looked at her, perplexed. She gawked at his bemused face as he finally slid the bread back into its rightful place. She didn't try to adjust her arms and let the pastry slipped out again. It dropped on the floor, but she didn't give a single care. Her eyes never left him. _It can't be right,_ she thought. The stranger heaved a sigh and broke their eye contact to glance at what he caught before. "You do look chubby," he smirked.

The tile floor seemed colder; outside, the wind blew and grazed the branches; leaves flew around; the clouds stretched wider; her breath hitched.

Someone was calling for her, but she simply ignored the distant calls. Her mind was only on _him_.

... As well as a sudden thought, _THAT JERK._

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><p><strong>I am actually enjoying myself. I'll see when I can update. School is killing me.<strong>


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